plate articles
What is the fundamental driver behind seismic activity?
What are the fractures in the crust along which rock masses move during an earthquake called?
During stress accumulation, what causes adjacent rock masses along a fault line to temporarily lock up?
Where does the overwhelming majority of powerful earthquakes occur?
What type of fault system is characteristic of convergent boundaries and capable of generating the largest earthquakes?
What theory describes the mechanism where rock suddenly ruptures, releasing stored energy after strain exceeds the holding friction?
What is the term for the point where the rupture begins underground?
How does a fault characterized by plates sliding horizontally past one another accommodate movement?
What causes the ground shaking experienced after an earthquake slip?
What is the condition necessary for an underwater earthquake to potentially generate a tsunami?
What is the fundamental mechanism responsible for driving the movement of tectonic plates?
Which two components comprise the Earth's rigid outer layer, the lithosphere?
What process occurs at divergent boundaries where plates move away from each other?
What geological feature is typically formed when an oceanic plate subducts beneath a less dense continental plate?
What example is provided for a continental collision zone where two continental plates meet?
What is the primary geologic consequence of plates sliding horizontally past one another at transform zones?
At what approximate speed are tectonic plates currently moving?
What layer beneath the lithosphere allows the rigid tectonic plates to glide across it?
What does the balance between seafloor spreading and crust destruction imply about Earth’s size?
What feature is formed at divergent boundaries, often described as vast underwater mountain chains?
Why does the angle of subduction influence seismic hazard assessment inland?
What geological feature marks the boundary where subduction begins?
What is the key chemical agent that lowers the melting point of mantle rock in a subduction zone?
What process describes the release of trapped water from the minerals of the descending slab?
Why do subduction zone volcanoes typically result in violent, explosive eruptions?
What determines the composition of the final eruptive material from a subduction zone volcano?
What is the primary physical force driving the sinking of the oceanic plate into the mantle?
If the overriding plate is oceanic crust, what feature forms parallel to the trench?
What term describes the temperature at which rock begins to melt in the mantle wedge?
What dictates the distance, or arc gap, between the trench and the volcanic arc?